The New York Yankees returned to the World Series for the first time since 2009, but fell short, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. Now a crucial offseason has begun for the Bronx Bombers – and few teams expect to be busier at next month’s Winter Meetings.
All eyes are on Juan Soto and where he will draw. The Yankees will probably do everything they can to bring him back, but what if Steve Cohen outbids Hal Steinbrenner? What if the Dodgers’ roster is too attractive for Soto to pass on? The Yankees are probably the favorites to win the Soto sweepstakes, but who really knows at this point?
Soto’s future is up in the air, but these five Yankees will be looking for new homes this offseason. Those new homes are expected to be found by the time the teams leave Dallas in a few weeks.
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Statistically, Clay Holmes was one of the best relievers in the American League in his three-plus seasons with the Yankees. He had a 2.69 ERA in 220 appearances, operating primarily in high-leverage positions for New York. However, his inconsistency cannot be ignored. Yankees fans were furious about it all season.
Holmes started his season by not allowing a single earned point in his first twenty appearances. In his next twenty appearances, he posted a 5.68 ERA and squandered five of his thirteen save opportunities. He had a 4.34 ERA in his next twenty appearances, losing six of his fourteen save attempts. He had a great run to start the year, allowing just one earned run in his last seven outings, but he also had plenty of rough stretches. Even in October, Holmes looked good in the ALDS and in the World Series, but had a few shaky performances in the ALCS.
The right-hander is a solid reliever who will make some serious money, especially given the lack of proven back-end options on the market, but the Yankees have no incentive to bring him back. He can’t be trusted in high-leverage spots on a team trying to win the World Series, and he’ll probably earn that opportunity somewhere. It just shouldn’t be in the Bronx.
Anthony Rizzo’s first full season in the Bronx couldn’t have been much better, as he launched 32 home runs and had a 130 OPS+. He seemed like a perfect fit at Yankee Stadium, cashing in on a multi-year deal from New York.
Unfortunately, Rizzo struggled mightily in 2023 and had another down year in 2024, slashing .228/.301/.335 with eight home runs and 35 RBI over 92 regular season games. He had an 81 OPS+, which essentially meant he was 19 percent below league average as a hitter. He looked slightly better in October despite playing through broken fingers, but managed just one extra base hit all postseason.
Rizzo is a great clubhouse guy and has won before, but the reality is he’s just not good enough to make regular at-bats. With that in mind, the Yankees opted to decline his club option and pay him a $6 million buyout instead of giving him $17 million to return to New York.
With guys like Christian Walker and Pete Alonso available in free agency and other attractive options on the trade market, there is no excuse to bring back Rizzo. The Yankees need more offensive firepower than they’ve gotten from Rizzo in recent years, and have plenty of options to choose from.
It feels like Gleyber Torres has had his name in trade rumors for years. The Yankees never inked him in a deal, but it feels like this is the time Torres will find his new home, especially since the Yankees declined to tender him the qualifying offer prior to free agency.
Torres is what he is at this point. He’s not a strong defender, and he’s not the 38-home run player he was in 2019, but he’s a solid player. He had a down year in 2024, slashing .257/.330/.378 with 15 home runs and 63 RBI, but he hit 49 home runs in the previous two seasons combined. He can provide a good amount of power in a position where that is quite rare.
The Yankees have too many holes to address before they even consider bringing back Torres. By then, Torres will likely have found his new home. Having Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the squad, who can simply make the transition to his natural position makes moving on a lot easier.
For much of the season, Yankees fans wondered why Alex Verdugo started in the outfield while New York’s No. 1 prospect, Jasson Dominguez, looked MLB ready. We can debate whether Verdugo should have started all day in the postseason, but we can’t argue that Verdugo’s time in the Bronx should be up. There’s just no room for him anymore.
Whether in left field or center field, Dominguez should be an everyday player somewhere in the outfield. New York hopes Aaron Judge and Soto fill the other two spots, but that remains to be seen. But whether Soto comes back or not, that third place can’t belong to Verdugo.
The 28-year-old had a strong first month in the Bronx after being acquired in an offseason trade with the Boston Red Sox, but struggled for the remainder of the regular season, slashing .225/.275/.336 with nine home runs and 48 RBI as of May 1. His 72 wRC+ in that span was the fourth-worst mark in the Majors among qualifiers, and he was one of six qualified position players with a negative fWAR during that span. He was 28 percent below league average as a hitter and below replacement level overall. I had a higher fWAR than Verdugo over the last five months of the season.
Verdugo had some big postseason moments, but had a .622 OPS overall in October, once again proving his time in the Bronx should be over.
The first four players on this list are free agents, but Marcus Stroman is under contract and will make $18.3 million in the 2025 campaign. He was signed before the 2024 season with the expectation that he would be a reliable mid-rotation arm, but that just didn’t work out.
The right-hander had a 4.31 ERA in 30 regular season appearances (29 starts) and 154.2 innings of work. The fact that he could eat up a decent amount of innings was a plus, but Stroman wasn’t even as good as his ERA would suggest. He had a FIP of 4.62, an xERA of 4.82 and had the lowest strikeout rate (16.7 percent) of his career. Stroman’s walk rate of 8.9 percent was much higher than his career mark of 7.2 percent.
Stroman’s down year led to Aaron Boone not using him all of October despite putting him on the postseason roster. That alone shows what the Yankees think of him now.
With Gerrit Cole officially locked up again, the Yankees have him leading the 2025 rotation, followed by Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt and Nestor Cortes. Stroman probably wouldn’t even start the year in the rotation if the season started today. A trade could change things, but the Yankees should look to part ways with Stroman before letting another starter go.
They wouldn’t get much in return, but could free up most if not all of his money given his track record and the need for so many teams to add starting pitching. Even in his down year, Stroman at least pitched like a No. 5 starter, and his track record is a lot better than that. Maybe one change of environment would help both Stroman and New York.